More than Human
by daRk-wicKed-goDdeSs
Summary: Bella and her friends spend the summer in Forks to help prepare for Charlies wedding. After an encounter with the local Wolf Pack, well, it just may become obvious that Isabella Swan has never been and never will be an ordinary girl.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, I've been pretty bummed out about the end of the HP series. I actually feel like I need a bit of time away from HP to rediscover my love for it so...updates on my other story may be a bit slow. Now, this is a story that has been bouncing around in my head for awhile now and I thought I'd share it with you guys. **

**There will be a few changes, as follows.**

**_Covenant Time line:_ The whole Chase incident will have occurred while they were in college.  
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**_Twilight Time line_: For the sake of things making sense in the meshing of the two verses, Bella moved to Forks in her Senior year and only dated Edward until the James incident. From there... Her opinion on her relationship with Edward will probably be a bit OOC. **

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><p><em><strong>PROLOGUE<strong>  
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><p>On First Beach in La Push, Washington mornings are always relatively routine when the usual torrential downpours of rain typical for the Pacific Northwest are absent. During mornings such as these, the local tribal members -whom live in low bungalows nestled between the forest and the sandy beach- can be seen sitting on their porch drinking coffee while watching the sunrise and reading the paper. Early morning surfers looking to catch the first waves of the day can be seen eagerly paddling away from shore. Then there are the local health nuts and fitness gurus. At least five or ten of the aforementioned, both young and old, can easily be spotted taking an early morning jog along the sandy shoreline.<p>

However, today there is something decidedly out of place in this usual bid of early Summer normalcy that everyone seems to be noticing.

A petite pale-face, the daughter of close tribal friend and local Police Chief-Charlie Swan, can be seen reclining in the sand against a piece of driftwood staring out at the choppy waves with a pensive expression. The early morning breeze coming off the water continuously catches a few fly away mahogany curls and blows them away from her delicate, heart-shaped face. Her overly full lips are tilted into a barely noticeable, but peaceful smile. Deep chocolate eyes, full of wisdom far beyond her eighteen years, are trained on the brilliant and colorful sunrise painted across the sky in front of her while she sits in relative peace.

Normally a pale-face on their beaches wouldn't have caused such a stir. They visit from the surrounding local towns quite often. However, rumor has it that young Bella was supposed to have left town early this morning to spend some time with her flighty mother before she attended Harvard in the Fall. Therefore, Isabella Swan's presence on the beach garnered her attention from those going about their normal routines without her even realizing.

The older natives were terribly intrigued by her presence and demeanor. Rarely did people of the tribe see a girl of non-native descent so at peace with herself and her surroundings. Many onlookers and passersby couldn't help but wonder just what sort of thoughts put such a beautiful, but ordinary, teenager in her relaxed state of being.

If only they knew the sort of thoughts going through this deceptively unremarkable, ordinary looking young woman's head as she prepares to face her destiny. In fact, they would be flabbergasted at the sort of secrets she keeps locked away.

See, despite all appearances, Isabella Swan was anything but unremarkable or ordinary.

She was keeping a secret.

A big one.

One she had kept about her family since childhood and would keep for the rest of her life.

The secret originated during the witch burnings in 1692. When the burnings reached the Ipswitch Colony of Massachusetts, six families with magical abilities referred to as 'The Power' formed a covenant of silence to protect themselves from persecution. Since that day, one family had been banished while all other members of the Covenant had done their best to appear as normal as possible in an effort to hide their true nature and preserve the secret.


	2. Chapter 2

_The rest of the story will not be told as an Omniscient POV like the prologue.  
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><p><em><strong>Chapter One<strong>  
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><p><em>…<em>

_Just over four years later_

_...  
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"Stop fretting, Bella," Hailey exclaimed in exasperation. "I totally would have switched with Pogue so I could've ridden with Caleb, Kate, and Sarah if I'd known you were going to be freaking out like this."_  
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Bella ignored her long-time friend's fiance as she once more twisted her lithe body so that she could see around the Ducati loaded in the bed of Tyler's Hummer H3T. She felt an absurd need to ensure that Caleb's Mustang was still keeping pace with Reid's manic driving.

It was.

She knew it would be. After all, Caleb's had years of practice at doing so. But she still had to look. Bella supposed she kept checking because she couldn't help but worry about her coven brothers getting lost when she knew from experience that the Olympic Peninsula tended to be a hot-spot for vampire activity.

With a relieved sigh she turned back around and looked out of her window at the forest lining the 101. Everything was still entirely too green in Washington. Over the years, a small part of her had begun to think the sheer greenness had just been a figment of her imagination. Apparently it wasn't. The green was still as never-ending as it had been when she'd moved to Forks nearly five years ago in lieu of Renee marrying Phil.

Bella hadn't been forced to leave her mom all those years ago. She'd just wanted the newlyweds to have some privacy. Nor had she been forced to move to Forks. No. She knew that she could have easily went back to Ipswitch, the town her however many greats grandmother had helped to found. But, at the time, it had seemed like a good idea to spend a little time getting to know the father she'd only ever spent a month with per year. So, two months after Bella's _Ascention_ (better known as her eighteenth birthday which, of course, she and her mother celebrated in Ipswitch with the other members of the Covenant) she packed up her things and moved to Forks.

The months that followed…well those were interesting.

She encountered the Cullens who definitely piqued her curiosity. From the moment they'd walked into the cafeteria, she had known that they weren't human. Nothing that beautiful and that flawless could have been. It just took a few clues and a browse through the Book of Damnation to figure out that, of all things, she had encountered a coven of vampires. In the following weeks she did her best to ignore them and seem as boring as possible to discourage their obvious interest in her.

Sure, for blood sucking creatures, they didn't seem that bad. It didn't mean she wanted to be involved with them though.

But… her plan of obscurity pretty much went out the proverbial window after both the van and Port Angelas incidents. After the latter, Bella reluctantly conceded that she knew they were vampires in hopes that the threat of exposure would force the coven to move. Unfortunately, Edward claimed he couldn't leave Bella alone because her blood enticed him like no other had before. Then he professed his undying love for her after admitting to watching her sleep.

All in the span of five minutes…

It definitely added a creepy factor to the situation. Bella couldn't believe that in the first few months of her arrival, not only had she acquired a vampire stalker, but said stalker had deluded himself into believing that his love/lust for her blood was for her as a person.

Bella knew it wasn't. He knew nothing about her outside of the shy, innocent, and ordinary girl she purposefully portrayed to wield off suspicion. It was simple to her. Edward was a vampire and whether he recognized it or not... Bella had become his prey.

She knew this and tried to hold her ground via her natural shielding abilities. But whenever he got within fifteen feet of her, all he had to do was 'dazzle' her with his stupid prey hypnosis crap...and no matter how hard she tried to resist she'd be rendered pretty much helpless while in his presence. It had quickly become clear that she had no way of protecting herself from Edward or his family without full out _'Using_'.

Unfortunately, it had been drilled into her since childhood that if it came down to a choice between death or exposure then she should proudly choose to protect the Covenant.

So Bella fell back on the old banality _'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.'_ If he loved her, then he was less likely to drain her. Therefore, in the following months she stopped using her shield to fight against his hypnosis. Doing so made her into the very malleable human puppet he expected. She also threw everything she had into becoming the quiet, shy, innocent girl he _thought_ she was, thus making him fall in love with her while she did her best to make him believe she loved him too.

It felt like she had betrayed herself in the worst way to do so, but it was necessary to play along until she could find a legitimate way to escape. Lucky for Bella, that way to escape without exposing the Covenant came not even two months later in the form of three nomads. After she'd been hospitalized by James, Edward and the rest of the Cullens felt so guilty about the turn of events that she had no problem subtly convincing them that she didn't belong in their world.

They quickly left town and Bella spent the rest of her senior year at Forks High in relative peace.

Bella had changed very little physically in the years following high school. The nearly 23 year old witch still maintained her less than impressive, petite frame of five foot three and one quarter inches. Her doe eyes were still a deep, expressive brown. She still had soft mahagony curls that fell to her mid-back. Her skin hadn't gained a bit of color despite the numerous days she'd spent soaking up the sun's rays with Kate and Sarah. She also still possessed the silvery scar on her wrist from where the nomad vampire, James, had bitten her since none of the spells they had tried would get rid of it.

All in all, Bella was physically still the same girl that left Forks after graduation.

But mentally?

That was an entirely different story.

She felt much more mature now. So much had happened since that Summer morning when she'd sat on First Beach watching the sunrise. After leaving for Harvard she'd had to face her destiny as a witch rather quickly.

The first such instance happened halfway through her tenure at Harvard when Bella responded to a summons sent by her maternal grandmother. Upon her arrival, Grandma Eve explained that she could no longer bear to live any longer without her lost love. She claimed to have been living in unbearable emotional agony for the past five years and that she no longer had the will to go on. That same day, Bella had been willed her grandmother's power and became the official Scion of the Williams family.

Then, as if managing her families finances and various investments on top of University wasn't enough, Chase Collins showed up. He turned out to be a revenge seeking descendant of the banished sixth bloodline. His egotistical power trip had nearly managed to expose the entire Covenant. After he nearly killed Kate, Pogue, and Sarah, the five of them used their powers to kill him and end the Putnam bloodline. Doing that...well it forced all of the younger generation to lose their care-free innocence. Even wild child Reid Garwin started acting more like a man and less like a spoiled playboy.

Most of the time, anyways.

He could still be pretty immature at times. But then again, all of them could. Especially when they interacted with one another. They were only in their early twenties, though.

**"Bells!"**

The young witch jerked out of her thoughts at the sound of her name being shouted right next to her ear. A few choice curse words fell from her lips when she banged her head on the window. Rubbing the sore spot, Bella looked for the culprit. A smirking Reid leaning over the leather center console so that he was mere millimeters away from her person was obviously guilty.

"You rang, Asshole?" She snarked.

"Now don't go getting all pissy. We've been trying nicely to bring you back from La-La-Land for the past five minutes. We're here."

Bella's retort to Hailey's reprimand died on her lips as she finally realized two things. First. They were no longer moving. Second. Caleb, Kate, Pogue, Sarah were all outside of the Hummer laughing at her misfortune.

Blushing, she hopped out of the H3T so that she could get her first proper look at the Covenant's summer abode. Even in the growing darkness, she could tell that it was a nice place. The large wrap around porch and bay windows gave it quite a bit of character. She liked it even more in person than she had in the pictures e-mailed to her from the real estate agent. The older craftsman style brick home was built in the midst of a meadow and was nestled up against the dense forest on three sides. It offered the perfect amount of privacy for a home housing four warlocks and a witch that tended to get on each others nerves.

While the others gathered their luggage and/or walked around the clearing in front of the house, Bella took off at a run so that she'd have first dibs on the rooms. Her brown eyes bled to black with flames dancing in their depths as she _'Used'_ to unlock the front door. She then ran upstairs, opening all the doors and quickly glancing at the furnished bedrooms within. She repeated this process four times before she finally laid eyes on the room for her. It had been decorated in black and turquoise with a platform king-size bed, a walk in closet, a mounted flat-screen t.v., and a window seat.

Her assessment of the room came to a halt when she was shoved into the door-jamb by a bony elbow. Reid barreled around her and into the room she'd chosen. With a shout of frustration she teleported in front of him and roughly pushed him down. Instead of apologizing, she offered him a smug smile and then primly stepped over him towards the bed so that she could proclaim ownership.

"I don't think so, Swan!" Reid grunted as he grabbed her ankle and yanked.

"This is my room, Garwin! I saw it first!" Bella cried out as she fell on top of him in a graceless heap.

Before Bella knew what was happening, she and Reid were a flailing mass of pale arms and legs. The two of them became ruthless as they rolled around on the floor in an attempt to pin one another. In their frustration they began shouting at one another. Occasional phrases would be louder than others.

Reid's grunted, "Take that, Midget!"

Bella's indignant shout of, "Why you little!"

Reid's excited begging, "Oh, Swan, touch me there a little harder."

And after that was heard, a pained groan followed as Bella touched it_ 'a little harder.'_ It left the platinum blond warlock rolling off of Bella's tiny frame and clutching at his groin. Bella took advantage of his apparent agony by diving onto the bed.

"Oops! Did I touch it too hard, Garwin?" the young witch asked with wide open, doe eyes and an innocent pout.

A middle finger halfway covered by a leather glove being shoved in her direction was the only response Bella received. That just made the six others whom had gathered in the hallway when they heard all the commotion laugh harder.

Bella offered them a mock bow before looking at her left arm with a curled lip, "I think I'm going to have to bleach my hand."

"Probably," Kate, Sarah, and Hailey chorused in agreement.

With an exasperated shake of his head, no doubt at his friends childish actions, Tyler entered Bella's new room and helped Caleb to remove Reid.

Bella shut the door after everyone else had left to claim their own rooms and spent the rest of the night making the pre-furnished room her new home.

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><p><em><strong>DISCLAIMER: I do not own or have any rights to the Twilight Saga or the characters from the Covenant.<strong>_

_**Thanks for the reviews!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_The rest of the story will not be told as an Omniscient POV like the prologue. And no, the story will center around Bella & Reid. Just because I have romance listed doesn't necessarily mean it will be between the two.  
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><p><em><strong>Chapter Two<strong>  
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><p>The next morning found Bella shooting her alarm clock dirty looks as she rushed from her closet to her en-suite. She was going to be late getting to the Reservation and it was all that stupid clocks fault.<p>

Apparently Charlie had begun attending the weekly summer cook-out at Billy's with Sue and her two kids. Bella, of course, knew Sue fairly well seeing as she owned the Diner in Forks. She also remembered hanging out with her kids once or twice when she'd visit over the Summer or attend Fish Frys at the Res during her Senior year. She'd found Seth to be the most adorable teenager ever. Leah...well Bella could see how most people were put off by her bitter personality. It definitely took some getting used to, but Bella was nothing if not adaptable. The young witch **had** to be adaptable with wild child Reid Garwin and dare-devil Pogue Parry as two of her best friends.

Bella just hoped Sue's kids weren't upset about the marriage because, honestly, she wasn't. She'd always gotten along with Sue. She was very nice. Bella felt that the older woman would be good for Charlie... make him happy. Bella figured that if the two kids did turn out to be the step-siblings from hell then she'd just have to grin and bear it until the wedding. After that she could go back to her life on the East Coast knowing she gave it her all.

At eleven o'clock, a freshly showered Bella left her new bedroom and trotted downstairs. The brunette stopped to check her appearance in the mirror since she'd been in such a rush. She'd pulled her curls up into a pony-tail and dressed casually in cut-offs, an old Spencer swim team shirt, and flip-flops. A glance at the clock in the hallway told her that she only had about fifteen minutes to make a thirty minute drive to La Push.

"You guys sure you don't want to get out of bed and tag along?" Bella yelled, _'Using'_ just a tiny bit to make her voice loudly echo in everybody's ears.

A resounding chorus of "No" rang out from different areas of the house.

Bella shrugged her shoulders at their apparent desire for a lie in. She then grabbed her purse as well as the keys to Caleb's Mustang on her way out of the door. Normally she'd have taken Tyler's Hummer instead of the Mustang, because...well that's sort of what her and Reid did. Take Tyler's Hummer without asking just to see him get all flustered about it. But she decided not to take it during her shower since it would definitely fit more of her friends inside than the Mustang if they decided to go into town for lunch or something.

The familiar drive out to the reservation passed quickly. It wasn't long until she broke through the lining of the trees and the North Pacific Coastline appeared in a white capped roll of turmoil. Even angry and gray the area was just as beautiful as the New England coast line. Bella marveled at how the dark water seemed to bleed off to meet the slightly overcast gray skies at the horizon. She'd forgotten how beautiful it was at La Push, just as she'd forgotten how green Forks was.

Before Bella knew it, she was parking the 'Stang outside Billy Black's place. Loud laughter filled her ears as soon as she cut the rumbling engine. Tension that had been building between Bella's shoulder blades since she'd rolled out of bed slowly began to ease up. The laughter and playful banter she could hear occurring in the back yard was something that reminded her of home, of her Covenant. The noise was actually quite soothing to her semi-frayed nerves, even if it was loud enough to give the rowdiest bar in Boston a run for its money.

Once she rounded the final corner of old clapboard home, Bella stopped dead in her tracks. She was sure that she must have died on the drive over. Death, or perhaps a very vivid fantasy after having one too many of Kate's mixed drinks, was the only logical explanation for what her brown eyes were seeing.

The sharp pain from the quick pinch she administered to herself assured Bella that she wasn't dead. Nor dreaming. She was entirely lucid. Which meant... This was real.

Nine men built like brick shit-houses were spread out around the lawn either talking or tossing around a foot-ball. Even better? All of them were shirtless. Bella could literally see the thick, corded muscles on their shoulders and upper back flexing and contracting with their unnaturally graceful movements. Their ginormous biceps bulged in all the right places without any sort of prompting. Hell, she was even ninety-nine percent positive that their taut abs resembled an old fashioned wash board. Forget measly six packs, all of these men were sporting chiseled eight packs that caused the v of their hips to be one of the most eye catching sites on their bodies.

_They were russet skinned gods._

As she gazed upon their sexy visage, Bella had to squash down a very, very strong urge to grab the water hose and spray them with it. The way individual droplets would travel the planes of their hairless chests, across their abs, and into the waistband of their cut-offs would be exquisite. She just knew the sight of these men soaking wet would be the hottest thing she would ever witness in her life.

"Bella!"

Her dad's excited shout and happy grin pulled the young witch out of an eye-candy induced coma.

"Hey, Daddy," Bella greeted as she pushed open the rusted gate that lead to the Black's backyard.

She smiled softly at the approaching salt and peppered police chief. Bella had genuinely missed the comfortable routine they had formed during her short stay with him. Weekly phone calls really hadn't quelled the longing she'd felt for his presence in her life.

Bella wrapped her lean arms around her father in an affectionate hug. It only lasted a few moments before Charlie pulled away from her. A light rosy hue tinted his cheeks, visible evidence of his embarrassment in regards to public displays of affection.

He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Right...err... well common and say hi to Sue and the kids."

With a light shrug, Bella followed her father further into the yard. Almost everyone, save a few of the russett gods in conversation with ol' Billy, turned in unison to watch her entrance. A small smile tilted her lips as she gave them all a jaunty little wave of greeting.

They stopped next to the long picnic tables where two beautiful Native American women- one just a much younger, taller, and muscular version of the other- were setting out a few casserole dishes.

"Bella!" The older (and shorter) of the two, Sue Clearwater, exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around the young witch and pulled her into a hug. "It's great to see you again. My haven't you grown up to be a pretty little thing!"

Bella's eyes got progressively wider as Sue spent a good portion of the following five minutes alternating between hugging her and waxing poetic about her good looks. Luckily, it seemed that the younger of the two must have been just as uncomfortable with the bout of verbal diarrhea as Bella.

"MOM!"

The shout brought an end to the smother Bella fest that Sue seemed to be having. The older woman backed away with an embarrassed grin.

"Sorry, dear."

"It's fine." Bella assured her soon to be step-mother.

"If you say so. Now, Leah, why don't you take Bella to go say hi to Seth and introduce her to the others?"

Leah rolled her pretty brown eyes at her mother as she grabbed ahold of Bella's arm and led her away. "Sorry about her. She's been wound up like the Energizer Bunny ever since Charlie told her you were coming for the Summer."

"At least she didn't go so far as to pinch my cheeks and call me 'Pooky'. That may have been unforgivable."

Leah's dark eyes filled with mirth as she cracked a grin at the playful jab towards her mother's melodramatic mother henning. Bella surreptitiously studied the woman beside her. This was definitely not the Leah she'd been expecting. Nor was she the Leah Bella'd met years previous. And it wasn't because she'd gotten both taller and more muscular. It was because the young Native seemed to be a bit less of a frigid-bitch and more easy-going than she remembered. The bitterness surrounding the young woman didn't seem to be quite as poignant as it had been a few years ago.

"So, how do you feel about my dad and your mom tying the knot?" Bella asked, hoping to get a feel for whether or not she'd be doing her best to avoid her future step-siblings.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Leah shrug.

"It's cool, I guess. Charlie's a good man and he makes mom happy, so I don't see a problem with it."

Bella hummed her agreement as she glanced around the yard for Seth's familiar boyish features. "So... where's Seth?"

"Right there. He just got tackled by the twins," Leah nodded towards three of the russet gods wrestling around on the ground.

Bella's jaw dropped. A nauseous feeling settled in the young witch's stomach as she got a good look at her boy-turned-man step-brother-to-be. He was no longer tall and lanky. He'd put at least seventy-five pounds of pure muscle on his six-foot five frame. His shoulders were incredibly broad. His cheeks were no longer round and chubby. They'd become all sharp planes and angles which highlighted his strong, square jaw. In four years, fifteen year old Seth had become a man she didn't recognize.

_Sweet baby Jesus... I ogled Seth. Sure it was more of a group ogling thing...but I still did it. Fuck! In some countries that's considered incest... _Bella groaned to herself with a mental face-palm.

"That...that **giant** is little Seth?"

"Yep. Our little Sethy's all grown up and wearing his big boy pants," Leah told her just loud enough for others to hear.

Before Bella could form any sort of response other than to snicker at the affronted look Seth shot them, her future step-brother ran up to them with five of his friends trailing behind him. A huge grin spread across his face once he got a good look at who Leah had been talking to.

"Long time no see, Bella."

"Tell me about it," The young witch murmured as she once more marveled over how much he'd changed.

One of the bigger guys towards the back jogged around Seth with a grin that just radiated happiness. "Bells! You made it!" He laughed as he scooped the petite brunette up with his bulging arms, squeezed the life out of her, and then twirled her around.

Bella's brown eyes shot open in shock. Partly in response to his enthusiastic greeting and partly in response to the overwhelming heat coming from the stranger's skin. Sure, Leah's skin felt hot, but she had nothing on this guy. Once he set her back down, she got a better look at him. Her jaw dropped as soon as she realized that the man before her was none other than her awkward and gangly mechanic from Senior Year.

"Jacob?"

"Who else?"

"Geeze, you're huge. And hot!" She blurted in her ruffled state.

"I know... this bod is a work of art," he playfully leered over the boisterous laughter of Leah, Seth, and their nameless friends.

"Th...that _so_ isn't what I meant," Bella groaned. "Not that you aren't huge or attractive because you are. I mean, seriously, you have big, bulging muscles in places I've never seen before..."Bella trailed off as she heard a whispered _'That's what she said'_ from the back of the peanut gallery. A bright blush stained her pale cheeks. "OK...I'm just going to shut up about you because it sounds seriously perverted when all I meant was that your skin feels hot enough to fry an egg on."

"Oh, that was priceless," Jacob managed to get out through a bout of lunatic sounding cackles. He looked at his friends with a snort. "Did you see how flustered she got talking about my big, bulging muscles?"

The young witch huffed in annoyance. _Way to put your foot in your mouth, Bella. You even had an audience of strangers this time!_

"It's a genetic thing here on the Res. All of us run a bit warmer than normal."

Bella raised a skeptic brow at Leah's amused answer to her observation. She'd never heard of any sort of genetic disorder that caused a group of people to have such a high body temperature. But, odd as it was, their body temperature wasn't her secret to pry into so she accepted the answer without further comment.

"Introductions?"

Leah took the liberty to answer since the other six were still laughing like a bunch of loons if they even glanced at Bella. She pointed to each of the four boys behind Seth and Jacob. "The two idiots behind Seth are the twins, Collin and Brady. The two idiots behind Jacob are Embry and Jared."

"Pleasure," she muttered dryly once their laugh at her expense ended. They all gave her nearly identical blinding white grins.

The call for everyone to start making plates went out, so Leah and the boys led the way over to the buffet style table piled with mountains of food. Bella could only look from her plate of perfectly proportioned servings to theirs in shock. Each of the giant men, plus Leah, loaded their plates with as much as possible before grabbing another and repeating the process.

It was like a train wreck. Bella just couldn't look away no matter how hard she told herself that she was being rude. She finally snapped out of it when Leah nudged her towards the big table where the younger generation were seated. At her approach Jacob stopped inhaling his food long enough to point at the empty space in front of him with a pointed look towards her. Bella walked around Leah and sat in the spot indicated.

Seth sat on Bella's right with the twins beside him. Jared plopped down a few seats to her left next to a fairly pretty girl he introduced as his fiance Kim. Bella also met Sam and his beautiful but scarred wife Emily. The pair was sat on the other side of Kim trying to help a man named Quil convince Emily's niece, Claire, to eat her vegetables. Embry sat his three plates of food next to Jacob's older sister Rachel whom he was obviously dating if one were to judge by the kiss he planted on her lips.

After it seemed like all introductions had been made, Bella concentrated on eating her lunch before it went cold. Five bites in and her plans to eat her meal without looking up so that she wouldn't rudely stare at how much the others consumed were ruined.

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><p><em><strong>DISCLAIMER: I do not own or have any rights to the Twilight Saga or the characters from the Covenant.<strong>_

_**Thanks for the reviews!**_


	4. Chapter 4

__**DISCLAIMER: I do not own or have any rights to the Twilight Saga or the characters from the Covenant.**_  
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><p><em><strong>Chapter Three<strong>  
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><p>After it seemed like all introductions had been made, Bella concentrated on eating her lunch before it went cold. Five bites in and her plans to eat her meal without looking up so that she wouldn't rudely stare at how much the others consumed were ruined.<p>

"You're in my seat," A deep voice growled at her back.

The animalistic sound sent a shiver of arousal traveling down Bella's spine causing the young witch to frown at herself for having such a strong reaction to a _growl_.

"It's unhealthy to be so territorial over a particular seat. Consider this a lesson in letting go," She remarked in a rather bored, if not slightly bitchy, tone just before she took a nonchalant sip of her iced tea.

A choking noise came from Seth as soon as she finished her rather confrontational statement. Across from her Jake started making frantic throat slashing motions with his hands in an attempt to get her to shut up. Apparently this guy scared them so she was just supposed to roll over and let him boss her around too.

Not happening.

"What if I don't want to?"

"Tough cookie. I was here first. I'm not moving. Either sit in the perfectly functional open space beside me or go somewhere else. I don't care."

The eyes of everyone at the table were darting from her to the man at her back, obviously enjoying the free show just as much as their lunch.

"Chief's daughter is feisty," The voice chuckled huskily as it slid into the open seat beside her.

A hot arm brushed against hers as he sat. The move felt deliberate... if not a bit sensuous. Her body temperature rose from the man's close proximity. The heady, musky scent rolling off of him and wafting in her direction made her mouth water and her breath hitch a bit. As she got another whiff, she had to squash down the sudden desire to moan like one of Reid's wanton little whores.

"Only when necessary," Bella retorted as she finally gave into the urge to turn and check sexy voice out.

And boy was Bella glad that she stopped resisting the urge. He looked just as good, if not better than all the other men at the table.

Her warm brown eyes first met a naked torso with skin the color of dark honey stretched tautly across swelled muscles. The arm closest to her had to be as thick as her thigh. Bella's wide eyes trailed a path from the intricate tribal tattoo on his bicep up to a set of shoulders twice as broad as her own and across to his thickly corded neck. Looking up into his face, Bella noted that his chiseled features were trapped somewhere between respect and amusement. The nostrils of his slightly crooked patrician nose were flaring as he drew in deep breaths. His overly full lips were curling into a panty-dropping smirk on one side that made the cleft in his chin more prominent. And his eyes... Those dark, steel grey orbs glinted with a smidgen of admiration as they followed the lines of her body up until they finally met her own.

As soon as her eyes locked with his, everyone else in the crowded and noisy back yard sank away. All that existed in Bella's world was this handsome man that dwarfed her petite frame in every way possible. She watched as the respect and wry amusement in his eyes turned to shock then to awe before finally settling on appreciation.

Bella didn't understand how an eye-color that tended to be quite unforgiving could display such a wide range of emotions so blatantly on this man. But, all the same, she immediately loved that his eyes were so open and soulful. She'd never have to guess. If she really wanted to know how he felt about something, all she'd have to do is look into those dark eyes and his every emotion would be there for her to read.

"I'm Paul Lahote."

Bella blinked a few times as she came out of her daze. She blushed and looked away, embarrassed to have been ogling him in such a blatant manner.

"Bella Swan," she responded as she hastily turned back to her forgotten food and began eating.

The young witch noted that the atmosphere around the table suddenly went from playful to serious after her and Paul had their little impromptu staring contest. The native men and women around her kept exchanging meaningful glances. The slight nods, eye-brow raises, and lip quirks they shared were reminding Bella of when she and the sons had to communicate without being overheard or risking the exposure that came with a telepathic link. She had no frickin clue what they didn't want her to overhear them discussing, but whatever this secret was made the following ten minutes of silence pass slower than molasses.

If that wasn't bad enough, the quiet gave Bella plenty of time to think and analyze then re-analyze her reaction to_ Paul. _She'd actually started daydreaming about his eyes and admiring how expressive they were. It was insane to feel that way about someone she'd just met. Bella'd never had that strong of a connection with a virtual stranger before. Never. It was...weird and it sort of freaked her out just a tad.

_He **is** sex on legs, _She admitted to herself as an excuse. Her eyes drifted in his direction in response to her thoughts. She immediately dropped them back down to her plate when she noticed then gave herself a few mental slaps._ _No need getting all goo-goo eyed over a man you've exchanged all of ten sentences with, Swan, __she reprimanded.__ You remember the disasters that were your past relationships- Aaron Abbot the wannabe rapist, Edward the stalker vampire, chastity belt Christian, and one date with the pretty but psychotic Chase Collins. You don't judge men by looks anymore. Now they have to prove they have a bit of fluff up top or you'll never let him score a date. Then if said man wants another date he also has to be able to accept the fact that your four best friends are males you spend an unnatural amount of time holed up with in secret. ___Oh! And don't forget that thanks to the male ego, if you actually want to marry a man then it'll take a special one to learn the big family secret without feeling intimidated by your power.__ It'll take an even more special one with a very, very open mind not to run in the opposite direction screaming something along the lines of '**Witch! Get the crucifix ready! Burn her!'**_

Bella let out a heavy sigh in response to her thoughts. Sometimes, she really hated when she talked sense into herself. But it was a necessary evil when she felt as if she were a mere five seconds away from humping the leg of a complete stranger in front of a large audience. Resigned, Bella did her best to ignore her bodies response and the person causing said response until she could confirm whether this...Paul.. was even worth her time.

Easier said than done, of course.

Bella had to forcibly stop herself from turning to look at Paul several times. And boy did she find that hard. It was like a nagging sensation...telling her to admire his gorgeous body, to touch his rippling muscles, and to kiss his plump lips. Bella shifted uncomfortably in her seat and tightened her grip on her fork to the point where her knuckles were turning white.

As the minutes passed, she could feel the eyes of everyone else at the table as well as the tempting man at her side occasionally drifting in her direction to examine her every move. It was unnerving. It made her extremely uncomfortable. She finally pushed her plate of half eaten food away unable to stomach anymore when she felt like an animal being displayed at the zoo.

"So... Bella, it really is nice to finally be capable of putting a face to the name of the woman Charlie constantly talks about."

Bella looked down the table to Emily, who had apparently decided to start up a conversation since she'd also finished eating.

"It's nice to meet you all as well. I've always worried about dad so it's nice to see for myself that he has people looking out for him,"she returned politely while shooting her a thankful smile for ending the awkward silence that had befallen on the group.

"Charlie's always been welcome in La Push, Bells. You know that so you shouldn't have worried so much. And don't deny it, I know you are the worst sort of worry-wart," Jake admonished.

The young witch shrugged. "Wasn't planning on denying anything, Jake. There were too many people around to witness my Sunday evening post phone-call freak-outs over whether he'd been lying about eating healthy or working too hard for me to get away with that. And there's nothing wrong with me having worried about him. I might have lived twenty-five hundred miles away, but I still cared. He's my dad."

Her sincere words earned her a blinding smile from Emily and the rest of the women at the table. Jacob merely nodded to let her know he'd acknowledged how she felt about the topic.

"So..." One of the twins, Collin she believed, drawled out with a slightly uncomfortable look on his face. He seemed as if he really desired for the conversational topic to change, probably to something a bit less... mushy.

"You should tell those of us that have only heard of Bella Swan in passing about yourself."

Bella turned and lifted an eyebrow at Paul's rather bold prompting. Instead of looking repentant, he seemed proud. In fact, he raised his eyebrow right back at her while his lips twitched into a smirk. With an exaggerated roll of her eyes towards the blunt giant at her side, Bella turned back around in her seat to find that the others seemed to be in agreement with Paul. She decided to just get it over with and give them a few random facts so that they would be appeased.

"Well, I'm twenty-two years old and lady bugs flit around looking a little too innocent for my liking..."

"Oh man! Lady bug conspiracies! Is this girl for real?"

The whispered interruption came form the shorter and stockier native, Quil, sat further down the table. His expression matched the incredulous look Jake and Bella's future step-sister were shooting her, though Quil did look like he was about to join everyone else in laughter soon.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. I don't care. Wait until you save one of the cute little bastards from being smooshed and get bitten in thanks. Then you'll see what I mean," She muttered bitterly. " Now... where was I? Right... I hate reality television, but it's like a train wreck and I can't help watching it. My all time favorite movies are The Departed and Orgazmo. I'm allergic to both eggplant and latex. I love thunderstorms. I detest snow. High heels are my sworn enemy... Honestly, I'm not sure what you guys want to know, but there isn't much to tell," _about my life outside the Covenant _Bella tacked on in her head.

Leah lifted a brow and stared her down from across the table. "Right. I'm sure there's plenty to tell... but if you say so. Anyways, Charlie talks to mom and just about anyone who'll listen about you going to Harvard. What did you study?"

"I double Minored in Strategic Business Management and Finance while I majored in Classical, Ancient Mediterranean, and Near Eastern Studies."

Leah let out a low whistle of appreciation. The others had furrowed brows as they tried to figure out why someone would've picked those subjects to study.

"What would you do with two minors in business and a bachelors degree in Classical, Ancient Mediterranean, and Near Eastern Studies?"

Bella grinned at the obvious confusion in Paul's deep voice. She liked that he wasn't afraid to ask questions when he didn't understand something. That was one point in his favor. She twisted in her seat to flash him an understanding smile since she knew that her degree choices were quite odd.

"My ancestors have been buying, selling, and appraising rare historical artifacts for centuries." _Mostly because the Williams bloodline took on the duty of searching out anything in regards to our history and this job is the perfect guise for our interests _ Bella added silently. "My mother wanted nothing to do with that aspect of our family business, but it always interested me. I'd tag along with my Grandma Eve to the office then I'd spend hours questioning her about the history of the artifacts she appraised. The degree just makes the knowledge and experience my Grandma passed on to me before she died seem a bit more official in the eyes of clients."

"Sounds fascinating," the man at her side admitted with a dazzling smile of his own.

"It is," Bella agreed.

"So, do you have to work in a specialized area?"

"Do you have to travel for your job?"

The two questions came from her soon to be step-siblings. Seems they were on the same wavelength and quite interested in her life.

"I have an office back home, but I can actually do my job from anywhere as long as I have the correct equipment. As for traveling, well I only do that if the object is too fragile to risk moving," Bella explained to them with a smile.

For some strange reason, everyone around her relaxed a bit after her admittance that she could do her job from anywhere. It confused the young witch, but she shrugged it off thinking that they were probably worried about her just up and leaving Charlie before the wedding or something. She took a sip of her iced tea during the lull in conversation and tried to think of a way to turn all these questions away from her before they touched on a topic that would force her to lie- something that she always had to do with her double life.

**_'I'll bite your lip so fucking, so hard.  
>And watch the innocence just drip<br>Down your chest,  
>And into my mouth.<em>**

_**Tell me your fantasies,**_  
><em><strong>I'll make you believe,<strong>_  
><em><strong>That I really care.<strong>_  
><em><strong>I'll look into your eyes,<strong>_  
><em><strong>I'll tell you all my lies.<strong>_  
><em><strong>As I take you slow.'<strong>_

Bella nearly choked on the drink she had just taken as she heard the chorus of a song that she felt described Reid's remarkable ability to make his flavors of the week believe he cared about more than just a fuck blare loudly from her pocket. She let out a sigh of relief because, as usual, her chaotic brother managed to come through with the perfect distraction when needed and probably didn't even realize it.

"Sorry, but I need to take this," Bella told her table companions while she retrieved her I-Phone and hit answer before it could repeat the chorus enough to get it stuck in her head.

**"Bells, you have to get your fucking ass back here right the fuck now!" **Reid shouted the moment the line picked up.

Strangely, the young witch was sure she heard a few low growls at his exclamation, but she blew it off. She didn't have time to worry about the freakishly large, apparently growly, and too hot Natives around her when she was busy analyzing her often excitable brother's tone of voice. It wasn't his 'Oh man, someones dead or going to die' tone nor his 'Someone's here to kill us and we need you to have our back' tone. This was simply his 'I'm freaking out and don't know what to do so I'll yell at you' tone.

And it annoyed her.

"I don't **have** to do a damn thing, Reid," Bella practically snarled. "Now take a few deep breaths, calm down, and tell me what has you so worked up."

She could hear the tel-tel 'whoosh' of air as it was released from her brother's lungs several times.

"Sorry," he apologized, "It's just... there are three hysterical, crying girls here and Caleb won't let me escape the mayhem. You know how freaked out I get when tears start falling."

And now that he'd pointed it out, Bella did notice the sounds of sobbing in the background. And she knew first hand just how uncomfortable Reid tended to get at those moments. He just didn't handle the whole sharing emotions thing very well. He preferred to go out to the source of the problem and pound it to a pulp rather than to provide comfort. Hell, Bella had only seen him offer comfort once and that only came in the form of a very brief hug.

"It's fine. What happened to upset them?"

He didn't answer.

"Reid... " She drew out warningly when the silence drug on a second longer than her patience could handle..

"Promise you won't get mad."

"No. If you knew that whatever you four asshats did would piss me off then you shouldn't have done it in the first place. Therefore, I reserve the right to kick your fucking asses all the way to Timbuktu if I so desire."

She heard a snort of laughter from either side of her, meaning Paul and Seth weren't even pretending that they weren't listening in on her half of the conversation. A quick glance around the table found that the others were being a bit more discreet and that Emily had covered up young Claire's ears.

_"**Sorry**_**,**" Bella mouthed to her, realizing she'd been cursing like a sailor which wasn't all that unusual when one of the sons annoyed her.

_"**Don't worry about it,**"_ Emily mouthed back with a smile tugging at her lips.

"Fine, but it really isn't our fault," Reid grumbled irritably, bringing the young witch's attention back to the matter at hand.

Her left hand automatically lifted to massage her temple, somehow knowing that whatever caused this would bring her a headache of epic proportions. Nevertheless Bella wanted answers and she wanted them now. And the quickest way to get answers out of her blond brother was through silence. He hated it. He thrived in chaos therefore silence made him so uncomfortable that he'd often tell you whatever you wanted to know within minutes. With that in mind, Bella kept her mouth shut and took another sip of her tea while she waited for him to give-in.

"Ugh, I hate when you give me the silent treatment," he groaned not thirty seconds later. "Before the four of us went to set the corner stones, I called a meeting to try and convince Caleb to let you and I switch places tonight. Caleb and Pogue's nosy ass wives decided to eavesdrop and overheard a few things they shouldn't have which they also misinterpreted. They started freaking out and went off to have a pow-wow with Hailey. And here we are thirty minutes later with three hysterical women because they've convinced themselves that since no body was ever found that Chase is still alive and out there formulating plots which end in the death of the sons while the daughter is forced to bear his demon spawn. They're accusing us-well Caleb, Pogue, and Tyler- of withholding information again. We need you because they don't believe a word coming out of _our_ mouths about the situation but well you have a way of making them see reason."

The young witch couldn't form an appropriate response to his rushed confession. With every word he'd spoken, Bella's anger had risen a notch. First they held a meeting without her which was all sorts of messed up. Meetings were rarely ever held without all bloodlines present and never without linking all of their powers in a circle of trust. Not to mention the meeting was about her part in creating the protection wards around their home... It felt like they were undermining her abilities, again. And as if all that wasn't bad enough, the four idiots didn't even bother to take the proper precautions to ensure that their conversation wouldn't be overheard. Which, of course, happened- even if they were lucky enough that it wasn't someone who would bring harm to the Covenant. That lapse in judgment lead to...this... situation with their spouses that she'd have to clean up because her brothers were stupid enough to hide the truth about Chase from them two years ago.

It wasn't the worst thing they'd ever done, but it pissed her off enough that she'd started losing control over herself. Anger caused that heady power to begin coursing through her veins even faster than normal in the most tempting of ways. It practically begged her to open the connection and let it punish that which had brought on her wrath. Bella actually had to shut her eyes after his second sentence so that nobody would see the ring of flames which shot-up around her rapidly dilating pupils in response to her desire to confront her brothers.

"You're angry," He stated when she didn't respond right away.

Of course, he probably didn't deduce that from her lack of response. Her shield sensed that he and the rest of her brothers had felt the rise of her power and had allowed them to link to her emotions in order to gauge what was going on with her.

"Of course I am," Bella hissed lowly through clenched teeth. "I'll be there in a few."

The young witch didn't wait to hear a response from her friend. She just ended the call. Bella sat her I-Phone down on the table and her other hand began massaging her temples in hopes of helping to relieve some of her stress. She also began taking deep, calming breaths. Bella couldn't help but think that those mandatory anger management classes she had to take before receiving the first dose of her power at thirteen sure were useful during times like this. Even if they were boring as hell. Fifteen deep, cleansing breaths later, she had reigned in her wayward emotions enough to open her eyes without worrying about exposure.

"Are you alright?" That deep, husky, sexy voice asked from beside her in a concerned tone.

"I'm fine, but something has come up at home and my emotionally retarded best friends need my services," Bella told him as she quickly stood. "Seth, Leah, it's been great seeing you again. I've had a great time with you all and would love to do it again sometime, so if you're interested just get my cell number from Charlie," she threw over her shoulder in afterthought.

She quickly jogged over to the table where her dad was deep in conversation with Billy, Sue, Old Quil, and a few others she didn't recognize. His attention focused on her as soon as he noticed her approach.

"Daddy, somethings come up at home and I need to go take care of it."

"Nothing bad I hope?"

"Just the one of the normal misunderstandings that tend to pop up with so many different personality types living together. I'm off to play peacemaker," she stated, understating things to sooth his concerns.

As soon as he murmured that he understood, she turned to her future step-mother. "Sue, call me and set up a time for us girls to get together about the wedding, yeah?"

Sue nodded her agreement.

Bella yelled a good-bye to everyone before she took off at jog towards the back gate. Once she pushed it open, she took one last look over her shoulder and scanned the crowded backyard. Her eyes locked with Paul's fathomless grey ones. His eyes seemed troubled, almost as if they were begging her for something, but she had no idea what a virtual stranger would want from her nor the time to ponder over it. She reluctantly broke their stare-down then jogged the rest of the way to the Mustang feeling as if she was leaving something behind.

She ignored the sensation and took off towards the Covenants summer abode.

Once she made it out of the residential area and back to the tree-lined highway, she let some of the control on her emotions fade. Her brown eyes once more bled to a fiery onyx. Her power freely flowed out of her body and scouted the road ahead of her. Sensing no other cars on the road, especially those of the law enforcement variety, the young witch pressed down on the accelerator until the RPM's began to red-line. She immediately shifted out of third and into fourth gear. She wound fourth out before slamming the leather gear shift into fifth.

Bella glanced at the dashboard with a triumphant smirk. The rising needle on the speedometer didn't bother her. She loved that feeling of knowing one wrong move could cause her to lose control and that she'd have to _Use_ in order to save herself. It was one of the many adrenaline rushes that she and her brothers craved.

Several times during the drive when Bella had to downshift for sharp curves in the road, she could have sworn she'd seen a silvery blur dashing through the woods next to her. Bella rolled her eyes at her paranoia knowing, logically, what she was seeing was just the way the sunlight glinted off the paint of the Mustang then reflecting it into the trees.

In no time at all, she found herself parking next to Pogue's Ducati. Before exiting the car, she cut her power off so that her eyes would return to normal. Bella knew that seeing her hell-fire eyes wouldn't help her calm the girls down at all.

She made it through the front door to find Reid leaned against the archway into the living room so that his six foot frame was angled in a manner that purposefully blocked her entrance. His icy blue eyes regarded her warily as she approached. He opened his mouth once she stood in front of him and Bella just knew that he was going to reiterate how it wasn't his fault that the girls decided to eavesdrop.

And she didn't want to hear it.

Bella cut him off with a harsh glare. "Don't say a fucking word," she growled, "This circle-fucking-jerk wouldn't even been happening if you four had followed the rules that have governed our families for over three hundred years. They are there for a reason. Because they work. Instead, I've got to deal with all of this drama because you idiots held a meeting without me where you were careless and overheard. Did you have to go behind my back to Caleb with how you feel about tonight? Hell, Reid, don't you think you should have come to me first? I offered to make the necessary sacrifice over a month ago. You had plenty of time to do so. "

By the end of her rant, Bella was breathing heavily and there were flames flickering in the depths of her pupils once more. She did feel much more rational and less upset though.

"Now that you've vented a bit, Spitfire, I just wanna apologize for calling a meeting without you and for not assuring that the proper protections were in place," her blond brother pleaded lowly-taking advantage of her need to breath. "Really. I am," he reiterated a little louder at her incredulous look. " I wasn't trying to undermine you or anything of the sort by bringing up my concerns with Caleb. It's just...for the last month all I've thought about is how vulnerable it made us having you so worn out last time we did this. I know its completely irrational since this is just a precaution, but I'd feel more comfortable if Po, Ty, or I took the hit so that you and Caleb would be at your strongest."

Bella sighed and the final remnants of her anger melted away. He took the wind right out of her sails. She just couldn't be upset with him for this... especially since it wasn't as personal as it had felt when he explained it on the phone. In fact, he was acting mature and being protective of their coven (not a first, but still a rarity).

She also knew Reid had made a damn good point. The initial part of the spell which required blood(and thus power) to be dripped into a circle would make whomever made the sacrifice unable to _Use_ for at least three days. That person would be completely vulnerable and need the protection of the rest of the Covenant. She'd only volunteered because she'd been the one to do it at their home in Boston when Chase had made his intentions known. But if the others believed this would make them feel more secure, then she'd be willing to charge one of the cornerstones instead.

"Fine, if everyone is in agreement then I'll trade places with you tonight," she conceded.

"Fantastic," he drawled out with his trademark smirk back in place, "now, go work your magic on the girls and get them to calm the fuck down so that we can enjoy the next few hours."

The young witch nodded because she definitely agreed with his desire to not have crying women everywhere mucking up their evening. She took a deep fortifying breath before following her pale brother into the living room and approaching the three women huddled on the laps of their respective spouses. It took her the entirety of the following hour to convince Hailey, Kate, and Sarah that the Covenant had decided after the Chase incident that it would be best to ward all of their homes. Once the crisis had been averted, the rest of the night passed normally.

They had some dinner.

Watched bad b-rated movies.

Rough housed and pranked each other.

Gave each other a hard time.

The usual.

Late that night, when the moon reached its peak in the sky, Bella and the other four members of the Covenant entered the basement. Four of them- Bella, Pogue, Caleb, and Tyler- all made their way to one of the cornerstones sunk into the foundation at the center of the North, East, South, and West walls. Reid made his way to the center of the expanse of their home where a thin, circular stone made out of white marble was embedded into the foundation. This stone was the most important. It would be the powerhouse for the wards, what grounded them and controlled them.

Once in position, Bella let her eyes bleed black and her power flow freely from her body. She lowered her shield so that she could telepathically connect with all of her brothers.

**'Lets do this so I can go crawl in bed with Kate,' **Pogue grunted.

Unfortunately, he also lost control of his thoughts and sent a mental, x-rated image of just why he wanted to get to bed so quickly.

**'Always knew Kate was a wildcat in bed,'** Reid leered with a few kinky ideas of his own flashing through the link.

**'I so did not need _any_ of those mental images,'** Bella exclaimed in disgust.

**'Me neither. I'm in serious need of some brain bleach,' **Tyler agreed with a mental grimace.

**'OK. One. Reid, stop fantasizing about my wife before I punch you. And Two. Just because one of you is jealous about your girl being on the rag and the other is a virgin is no reason to act like sex is disgusting.'**

**'Maybe I wouldn't still be a virgin if you four weren't such over protective cock-blocks. Ever think about that?'** Bella growled, cutting off Tyler's retort to Pogue's taunt.

**'Of course we do,' Tyler and Caleb admitted without shame.  
><strong>

**'Why do you think we threaten anyone who asks you out?' Pogue added.  
><strong>

**'Like we'd let some little prick who can't even stand up to us steal your innocence,' Reid finished smugly.  
><strong>

Bella gaped at their responses. It was as if they'd coordinated answers beforehand or something. Damn, over-bearing pricks.

**'Alright, you guys shut up. We aren't here to discuss our sex lives or Bella's lack there of' **Caleb's deep baritone echoed through the link, stopping Bella's return argument before she even started.** 'Everyone ready?**'

**'Yes,'** they all agreed.

Bella watched from her position on the North wall as Reid sliced his arm open with the Garwin family ceremonial athame. He began walking in a slow circle while he chanted in Latin. A steady, crimson flow of blood, of Reid's power, pooled onto the stone in his wake. When he finally came to where he'd started, the magic began flaring. The blood soaked into the marble and turned the pale circle a dark red.

While Reid fell to his knees, exhausted, Bella and the others took their cue from the ritual to begin pushing their magic into the stones before them. The young witch poured her power into her stone and didn't stop until she could see the very foundations of her home glowing brightly in her minds eye.

Not a minute later, when Caleb reached the same point, Bella could sense it. They waited patiently as Pogue, and then Tyler finished. As the ritual required, the four raised their hands in front of them. In unison, they brought them together in a sharp clap which would signify their powers melding and meshing until they became one to form the protective barrier on the house.

Once she felt the magic settling, Bella quickly went to Reid and healed the five inch cut he'd made on his forearm. She was exhausted and knew that they were too. So after helping get Reid upstairs and into bed, she retired to her own room.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Thanks for the reviews!<strong>_


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